My Wondrous Journey

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Hillary, the show is over.
2008-05-07 18:33:00
Dear Hillary ,Let's be honest. You've given it your best shot. You've paraded your daughter and husband around the country in hopes that it will help you achieve victory. You've done everything but literally slaughter Obama, in hopes that it will earn you more delegate counts. Enough is enough. Face it. You're out of money (except for the sudden $6.4 million you just loaned to your campaign), the momentum has all but died, and most important, the numbers will never add up. As Obama said last night, this election is not about you. It's about the American people. So, please, for the sake of everyone, put your monumental ego aside and step down. It's time.Thank you,A Girl on a Journey
More About: Politics , Show

Connection with Josh Ritter - My Dad's perspective
2008-05-06 15:14:00
Now that you've read my version of the Josh Ritter experience, how about reading my Dad's perspective?http://www.michaelbales.com/2 008/05/06/josh-ritter-connects/Enjoy...it 's a great read!
More About: Connection , Perspective

Our night with Josh Ritter
2008-05-04 15:27:00
Back in November, I received an email from my Dad encouraging me to go see this guy named Josh Ritter live. He was going to be playing at Variety Playhouse on a Thursday evening, and no matter what, try to make the show - I was assured I wouldn't regret my decision. He was right.Two months ago, after becoming a big fan, I received an email saying that Josh was going on a small city tour and Athens, GA was on his schedule. I immediately called a friend of mine from work to share the big news, and arranged to purchase tickets.Ever since, the countdown has been on. Not only was I excited to see Josh in concert again, I was thrilled that my friend was seeing him for the first time. I assured her she wouldn't regret her decision. I was right.The energy that filled the small standing-room only area at the Melting Point in Athens was almost intoxicating. As soon as Josh and his 4 other band members walked, or should I say bounced, onto stage, you couldn't help but grin ear-to-ear. ...
More About: Night

10 Years Ago...
2008-05-03 14:05:00
10 years ago yesterday I graduated from college. 10 years ago yesterday I walked across the stage at the University of Florida O'Connell Center, accepted my diploma, and looked above as my Dad was cheering from the stands. 10 years ago I was getting ready to head to Europe with one of my sorority sisters and her friends, not knowing what in the world I was going to do, upon my return, for work. In my 10 years of living in Atlanta, GA I have made so many new and incredible friends, bought my first home, landed a great job and met my husband. How 10 years has passed by this quickly, I will never know.I'm looking forward to what adventures I will embark upon, and I hope I am lucky enough to accomplish as much in the next 10 years as I have in these past 10.
More About: College , Years

The Story Behind Tungsten's Name
2008-05-02 19:36:00
Every now and then when I tell people the name of my dog, they look at me with an odd look of curiosity. Honestly, I can't blame them. Tungsten isn't exactly something you hear very often, unless of course you work with a http://www.webelements.com/ every day. I was exchanging dog stories with a business partner yesterday and, naturally, the history behind the name came up. I shared with him the story of how Tungsten's name evolved. Here's how it goes:When we were in St. Lucia for our honeymoon, we spent a good portion of our trip talking about whether or not we should get a dog. After we returned home, we decided it was time to name this imaginary dog that we hadn't found yet, so we started randomly selecting names that reminded us of our time in St. Lucia. We would walk around the house/yard and say, "Here Lucia! Here Lucia!" We quickly decided that sounded stupid, especially since we knew that if we got a dog, it would be a male dog. We even tried other names such a...
More About: Story , The Story

The High Price of Beauty
2008-05-01 03:55:00
This afternoon, while driving home, I was listening to Whatever Radio on the Martha Stewart Channel (Sirius 112). The two co-hosts, Alexis and Jennifer, were gabbing away, as usual, about a bunch of nonsense. Today's initial topic: beauty products. The two friends started bantering back and forth about what type of products they use. Jennifer would throw out a name of a product, and Alexis would typically say there was a better product out there. Jennifer (the more tom-boyish woman of the two) mentioned she recently used a Neutrogena product on her face. Alexis was so appauled that someone would use a $6.00 facial product, that she more or less berated Jennifer. What struck me as funny is that some people honestly believe that the more expensive the product, the better it is. I use a $5.00 slice of "Coal Face", a charcoal product, to wash my face and my skin has never looked better. Who says you have to spend a fortune?Either way, I am one of the billions of women who contrib...
More About: Beauty , Price , High

The Joy of Routines
2008-04-29 02:09:00
When we moved into this house, I found it took a while for me to get into a good solid routine. Part of this was adjusting to a larger space to maintain, being slightly further away from our old house (1 mile can make a big difference in my schedule),and even Tungsten growing and becoming more active, which requires more time. Without going into details on how my routine has evolved, I have found such joy in the fact that I feel officially settled. While some people may find my schedule boring or monotonous, and may even call me neurotic, I love it. I can almost time it to the minute when I am going to be getting home, making dinner, walking the dog, unpacking my gym bag, picking out my clothes, and settling down to catch up on any emails that have come in since I left the office at 5. I found myself at ease while on the way to the grocery Sunday morning and it hit me how accustomed I have become, especially on the weekends. Start clothes laundry Friday night, finish it Saturd...

The Creek is Rising
2008-04-26 23:36:00
Directly behind our house is a beautiful little creek. While it's rare for it to get high, there is always the question in the back of our mind about whether or not it will rise above the shoreline. While we find it to be a nice touch to the house, the creek ended up being a sensitive topic for our neighbors while they were trying to sell their house. Basically, they had to convince the potential buyers that the creek would their house. In other words, it rarely gets very high. Saturday afternoon I was on my way home when the bottom dropped out of the sky. Literally pouring down rain. I walk in the house, over to the window to look at the creek, and sure enough, it was on the rise. It figures Saturday was the first full day our new neighbors are living next door. I am sure they were sitting on pins and needles praying it didn't creap much further. Thank goodness, for everyone, it did not.
More About: Neighbors , Creek

Sense of Accomplishment
2008-04-24 20:24:00
For the past 7.5 years, much of my work-work has centered around managing the production (both creative and printing) of in-store collateral. Unfortunately, I very rarely am involved in any sort of web-related work, which is where some of my interest lies.Recently, in my spare time, I have been able to learn quite a bit of web marketing from starting the website, www.lasvegaschoices.info. While I don't have a clue as to what I am doing half the time, nine times out of ten, I walk away having learned something. Often times, I will boast to Brad about my latest accomplishments. Earlier this week, while at work, I had a new client contact me asking if we could create an animated banner ad that could appear in her email - basically she wanted it to be a permanent part of her stationary. Creating the animated GIF file was no trouble - it was learning how to make this part of her Outlook program a challenge.After approximately 8 hours of Googling and reading, playing around in Outlook...
More About: Sense

Tracking Gas Prices
2008-04-23 16:52:00
I can't remember how long ago this was - maybe 5-8 years - my younger brother became obsessed with gas prices. Every time I would see him, he would update me on the latest gas price in Orlando, and would immediately follow up by asking me where Atlanta compared. It was as though we were having some form of a competition, yet there was no sort of prize involved. I used to joke about how strange he was for his crazy obsession, especially given that he was only in his early teenage years, and gas prices had no impact on him whatsoever. But, to each their own, right?Each morning, I pass by a QT gas station, and will casually glance over at the price board to check out the latest price for 87 octane. In the past several weeks, as gas prices have been on the rise, I have caught myself mentally tracking the cost of gas. In other words, I can almost tell you day-by-day how the prices have fluctuated. It wasn't until Sunday afternoon when we passed by a BP Station near our house, and I...
More About: Gas Prices , Tracking , Prices

Test Post
2008-04-23 16:02:00
I'm trying to test out the RSS Feed...let me know if this works!
More About: Post , Test

Goodbye neighbors
2008-04-22 02:50:00
As some of you know, we have lived in this house now for just over a year. What you may not have known is that part of the reason we were drawn to this house was because of the people in the area, including our neighbors. Our previous house was great, and the people on the street were great; however, no one was anywhere close to our age, and that drove us crazy. When we moved into this house, we were both thrilled that the couple who lived next door were around the same age as us, and pretty much in the same stage in their lives. Recently married with one dog and no children. Perfect match.It didn't take long before we started hanging out with them, and quickly met their large circle of friends. Everyone in their group is fantastic, and all welcomed us with open arms. A few months back, Brad and I had just been talking about how exciting it is that we found this house because of the opportunities it has opened up for us, including our social lives, and how blessed we are to ...
More About: Neighbors , Goodbye

My expensive hobby...I mean obsession
2008-04-19 03:26:00
I'm not sure where I have developed this love for traveling. Well, really, it's not even a love for traveling as much as it is a love for obsessing over future trips I would like for us to take. I have already planned 3 trips this year, but the funny thing is that these trips are only planned in my mind, as opposed to literally planning them. I'm obsessed. My most recent obsession is regarding going to the beach. Neither of us have been to a beach since our honeymoon, which was nearly a year and a half ago. I am going CRAZY. I tried to convince Brad this week to let me plan a "real" trip, but with no luck. I went as far as emailing 15+ condo owners from various beaches in the Florida Panhandle, hoping that would make a difference, but Brad still said now is not the time (which he is right about).My best girlfriend from college told me today that I need to stop complaining - we did just get back from Vegas. Ultimately, I just wish we had skipped Vegas all together and head...
More About: Hobby , Obsession

Smells and fond memories
2008-04-17 21:04:00
I have been extremely sensitive to smells over the past couple of weeks...to the point that I thought our house was on fire while standing outside, and it turns out a piece of toast had slightly burned in the toaster oven. Every now and then I will get a whiff of something that takes me back to a certain time and place, and I find myself day dreaming about the past. Yesterday morning I walked into the kitchen at our office and smelled the sweet smell of Apples & Cinammon Instant Quaker Oatmeal. What I found interesting is that one of my co-workers makes the same type of oatmeal every morning, yet yesterday it was extremely prominent for me. Immediately I was taken back to a camping trip I went on with my Dad and step-mom when I was around 6-7 years old. While I don't remember much about this particular trip, I suddenly remembered my Dad making us this exact type of instant oatmeal over a fire early in the morning. I caught myself gazing into space with a smile on my face...th...
More About: Memories , Fond

Matt Nathanson Concert
2008-04-14 20:04:00
One of my favorite things is to see a band play live, and to be outside while doing so. This was the case yesterday. A few of us walked 1/2 a mile up the road to the Smyrna Market Village to watch a free concert that was being sponsored by 92.9 Dave FM. The performer was Matt Nathanson, a relatively newcomer to the music scene, and one that I have listened to several times on Sirius Satellite Radio.He played for approximately an hour and 20 minutes in front of an approximate crowd of 300 or so people. We had a cold front blow through earlier that morning, so it was freezing outside, but the show was worth all of the shivering!
More About: Concert

Store return karma
2008-04-12 23:26:00
Yesterday at lunch the girls and I had an hour-long discussion centered around the topic of store return policies. Without going into a lot of detail, we talked quite a bit about how Target's return policy is probably the worst any of us have ever encountered. If you don't have a receipt, and the price is over a certain amount, you can't return it. Period. Not even a store credit. If you have a receipt, but it's over so many days, you can exchange the item, but you have to do it right then and there, and exchange it for something within the same department. Oy vey. So many rules, and not good ones to follow, in my opinion. Sounds to me like one too many people took advantage of our favorite store and has ruined it for the rest of us.This morning I decided to return a shower curtain rod that we purchased a while back because it doesn't work. It's a tension rod, but literally will not hold the tension. I often shower in this particular shower, and have had, on numerous ...
More About: Store , Karma , Return

Instant Yard
2008-04-09 16:24:00
One of the biggest complaints we had after we purchased our house last Spring was that we didn't ask the builders to lay sod for us. Somehow, after coming from a house that had an incredible yard, we managed to move into a new house with literally a mud pit. It was messy, trashy-looking, and just downright embarrassing.Brad recruited his two brothers to drive down from Pennsylvania last week and help him get the yard ready to lay sod. I have never seen 3 people work so hard in their life (especially my husband!) to get something ready.There's still much to be done, but as it stand now, we have an instant back yard!!Before:After:
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Memory of Vegas
2008-04-05 01:58:00
One week ago tonight, Brad and I were standing in front of the Bellagio watching the fountain show. Here is a taste of what we saw:
More About: Memory , Vegas

Walking, Buffets, BlackJack and more...
2008-04-03 03:31:00
We are back from Las Vegas. This was my first "experience" in Sin City, and overall had a very good time. I'll just say this: next time we will NOT stay 3.5 days, but instead cut it down to 2 full days TOPS. Brad and I, together, had a wonderful time. Friday was great - we walked all over the place, checked out 3 of the major hotels, ate and did some light gambling. Perfect for the first day. We had a slightly harder time trying to figure out how to fill our time, but once we found the penny slots in the Paris hotel, we were good to go! Before I knew it, 2 hours had passed and we had lost all of $2.00. My kind of gambling day! That afternoon, we killed a few hours before meeting up with our friends, who drove way too many hours from the L.A. area (sounds like LA has Atlanta beat on the traffic issue!). Saturday night was awesome. Seriously - no better way to describe it. After dinner and drinks, we convinced one of our friends to try the slots for the first time and she a...
More About: Walking , Blackjack , Buffets

Get paid to blog
2008-03-26 21:44:00
I am fascinated by this concept. Here I have been blogging for quite some time - technically 2 years if you count my "engagement" blog, and I never realized that I could get paid to do what I thoroughly enjoy! Sometimes I struggle with topics to write about and don't want to necessarily bore you with my day-to-day routine, or entertain you with what I ate earlier that day, so I was thrilled to come across this new site: www.payperpost.com. I was recently visiting one of my favorite blogs: www.uncommonbusiness.blogspot.com, and in going through the archives I found a mention of "Get Paid to Blog ". Fascinating. Immediately I ran to check out the site and get more details, and sure enough, you can literally get paid to blog.get paid to blogI am currently waiting to qualify for topics to write about, and cannot wait to entertain you with new posts about companies that interest me, etc. I don't know what type of money-making potential I have with this site, but whatever I earn wi...
More About: Get Paid To

Tungsten: The Legend
2008-03-25 21:13:00
Ahhh...I am such a proud dog owner. My "baby" is becoming more and more popular in and around the city of Smyrna. I was at the dog park one evening last week when a woman approached me. She looked over at Tungsten, looked back at me and asked, "Is that Tungsten?" I was a little confused, as I thought maybe we had met before and I didn't remember, but it turns out we had not met. She went on to say that she has "heard so much about Tungsten" from various people at the park and has always wanted to meet this mysteriously popular dog. I went home that evening grinning ear-to-ear. Who would have thought that while we are not there that people are literally talking about my dog?A few days passed and I was outside talking to our neighbor. He and his wife recently put their house up on the market and had a young couple come by twice last week to take a look. I asked him a couple questions to get more information about the potential buyers and he said, "OH! The girl - she knows yo...
More About: Legend , The Legend

An inspiring opportunity
2008-03-22 00:57:00
My Dad had the opportunity to sit amongst 13,000 people in Portland, OR today and listen to Senator Obama make a 40-minute-long speech. Throughout the day, I periodically received pictures via my camera phone, which depicted how close to the stage he was able to sit. Here is my Dad's review of Obama's speech:I guess the best way to summarize it is to say it was 100 times better than seeing him in the fall, which was a great experience. Among the differences: * Better setting. Rabid crowd of 13,000 in an arena in which Obama was surrounded by people. * Excitement level was much higher, not surprising considering that in the fall he was given no chance at all. And, the people who have been following him for a long time, I think, are even more enamored with him.* After Bill Richardson spoke, endorsing him and what not, Obama spoke for about 40 minutes. He never looked at a note. He paced the stage with a hand held mike, constantly turning to look directly at everyone. He spoke with...
More About: Opportunity

Is it in the water?
2008-03-19 17:08:00
My boss has always joked that her biggest nightmare would be if all 3 girls on our team got pregnant during the same time. She has talked about for years, and now I am wondering if her putting all of that "negative" energy out there is making her nightmare come true. Back in December, one of the girls announced that she was 9 weeks pregnant. She's been married for a couple of years, and we figured it was just a matter of time before the announcement would come. For several weeks after her big news, our boss made repeated comments how the remaining 2 of us are NOT allowed to get pregnant anytime soon. She went as far as to say that the other girl had not been here long enough and still had to "earn her keep". I would periodically go into her office to pry and determine if she was anywhere close. The answer was always an adamant "No!".Imagine my surprise when I was called into a meeting last week, only to learn that she is "newly" pregnant. The news came, my jaw dropped, and ...
More About: Water

Tornadic Activity
2008-03-17 19:35:00
We came home late Friday night to learn that a tornado had swept through downtown Atlanta just a few hours prior. I was stunned. For starters, I had no idea that tornadoes would even go through a downtown area. Second, I can't believe that all this was happening and we were just sitting around a kitchen counter talking with our friends. I woke up early the next morning just so I could see some of the footage of the damage. Wow! The destruction was incredible, and the fact that I recognized most of the landmarks affected made it that much more surreal. Downtown Atlanta hit by a tornado. Definitely something I never thought would happen.I bugged Brad for the next 24 hours telling him repeatedly that I wanted to go see the damage. I guess that could be considered "sick" on some levels, but when does a person really ever get to see something so news-worthy? Yesterday we were on the way to Home Depot when I suggested we make a detour and head downtown. Unfortunately, many of ...

Is Big Brother watching you?
2008-03-12 18:55:00
Most people who know me know my love for Google. Realistically, there isn't anything about Google that I dislike - at least, in terms of the services they offer. No matter what you are looking for, Google can help.My husband and I will periodically talk about their services, and he has brought up the question of when will the Government take over Google (if they haven't already). Yesterday, this thought prompted me to Google, "Google taking over world" just to see if anything was out there. Wow. The information I came across is astonishing. I actually came across an extreme site called, "Google World Domination" where there is a countdown to when Google will take over the world. There are people who literally obsess over this concept, and given that I've never given the idea much thought, I was shocked at what I learned.The recurring theme I came across is that Google knows everything there is to know about a person. They know who you know, what your interests are, persona...
More About: Big Brother , Watching , Brother

Lunch time conversations
2008-03-11 19:54:00
Assuming I am not too busy, I try each afternoon to escape downstairs to our kitchen for 30 minutes of lunch time relief. Typically, it is the same group every day seated around the table, and periodically a new face will join in on the fun. You never know what the topic of discussion is going to be. Some days it's work-related gossip, while on other days it's an update on someone's pregnancy. You never know what you are going to get when you walk into the lunch room.Today we had the opportunity to have a new face join the group. While she is a familiar face, she is considered "new" to our lunch club. Today's topic: Celebrities, and apparently, a perfect subject matter for the newbie in the group. We started talking about random celebrities that we "like" and, 5 minutes into the conversation, we learned that this girl dated Woody Harrelson's brother and Dennis Quaid's brother! Here is this girl who sits quietly at her desk, pumping out design project after design proje...
More About: Lunch , Time

"These Are the Days..."
2008-03-10 19:45:00
This past weekend a friend of mine put together a "Kappa Kappa Gamma" Reunion party for those of us "Kappa's" who live in the Atlanta area. I am lucky that I am able to see several of the girls who attended, on a regular basis, but there were a few at the party that I haven't seen in ages. It was so nice to sit back and listen to what everyone has accomplished in the past 10 years. Alison, the host, brought out a bunch of her old Kappa memorabilia (blankets, drinking mugs, Big Sis paddles, etc) and most people brought their old photo albums, which was an absolute hoot! We literally sat there with our mouths hanging open as we went through these pictures. Periodically, I will look through my old album and try to re-live those old college days, but rarely do I get to see pictures from other people. It was hilarious to look back at what everyone wore, looked, who they were dating, etc. I have to say that I am SO glad I have grown out of those awful styles!Alison tried to pull o...
More About: Days

Quote of the Day
2008-03-06 19:52:00
"These are not the 1990s any more. We are at war. The economy is teetering. We are sinking in the quicksand of the Middle East. We are at constant risk of a major terror attack. And, if given a chance to bathe in the spotlight again, the Clintons will make it all about them once more. They will create the kind of drama that we have already seen in this campaign - a constant flirtation with political death in order to keep the soap opera going.I don't know about you, but I don't think we can afford another eight years of it."-Andrew Sullivan: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the _daily_dish/2008/03/reliving-the-ps.html
More About: Quote Of The Day , Quote

Cali: Call my name!
2008-03-06 17:48:00
Maybe we're missing something. Our friends keep packing it in and moving out to Cali fornia. It all started last Spring when a dear friend suddenly moved back home to San Francisco after a few-years of living it up in Atlanta. I remember how upset I was that she was moving, but incredibly envious at the same time. We have another set of friends literally packing up right now to head out to the Los Angeles area within the next week. Just when we thought the moving was all said-and-done, we got news that our neighbors are making the trek out there as well! I'm starting to wonder if we need to re-evaluate things and spend a year living in The Golden State. Granted, we will probably end up living in a tent on the beach in order to afford anything, but who cares, right? Amazing weather, palm trees, great food, diversity...the ocean!! Hmmm...
More About: Call

Update on headaches
2008-03-04 22:14:00
To update everyone, my blood work and CAT Scan came back perfectly normal, so I am left clueless as to what has been going on. As of now, I am chalking everything up to stress, which is interesting on some levels because I didn't realize how stressed I have been at work. I am transitioning off of a recent project I had taken over and will be taking on something on the smaller side, in hopes that this helps alleviate some of what I have been going through. While I am obviously glad they didn't find anything wrong, I wish I had a real diagnosis.
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